Friday, February 4th, 2022

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 5

UNIVERSITY NEWS

A history of Black student campus activism Throughout campus history, Black students build community, spark change

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

METRO

BLM RI PAC reflects on a year and a half Group has advocated for criminal justice reform, organized coalitions

BY KAITLYN TORRES AND CANQI LI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND SENIOR STAFF WRITER

BY MICHAEL SEOANE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

From Black students trailblazing firsts in the late 19th century to students planning walkouts and protests to increase campus diversity in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Brown has a long history of Black student activism.

College campuses during the civil rights movement were “convulsed by debates over civil rights, war, poverty and imperialism,” according to Matthew Guterl, professor of Africana Studies and American Studies. College students, he wrote in an email to The Herald, were “critical innovators and organizers” within the movement, and Brown students were no exception.

LOKI OLIN / HERALD

First Black students create community together In the late 1800s, the first Black students to study at Brown set foot on campus. Five of these Black graduates from between 1877 and 1912 went on to later become presidents of Black colleges and universities.

For these students and those who followed them, activism often took shape in community building.

Among the first Black female graduates of the University was Ethel Robin-

ARTS & CULTURE

son, class of 1905, who went on to teach at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and who is credited with guiding her student Ethel Hedgeman to found the first Black sorority in the United States, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

In 1967, the Afro-American Society was founded at Brown to raise awareness of “Afro-American culture, social interactions, political activities and di-

SEE ACTIVISM PAGE 5

Black Lives Matter Rhode Island Progressive Action Committee launched over a year ago in July 2020 with the aim of helping a diverse group of young, progressive politicians run for state and local office. The organization’s overarching goal is “to see systemic racism dismantled,” according to Harrison Tuttle, the PAC’s executive director.

“The day that happens, I will gladly retire the organization,” Tuttle said.

The PAC champions left-wing policies such as legalizing cannabis, banning for-profit prisons and repealing the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, a law that

protects law enforcement officers from prosecution while performing their duties. In contrast to other BLM chapters around the United States, which are usually registered as non-profits, the PAC also raises funds for political candidates in Rhode Island that share these legislative aims.

In the past year, the PAC has organised coalitions to achieve these objectives, partnering with organizations such as Sunrise Providence, Reclaim RI and the Democratic Socialists of America to fight for progressive reform, Enrique Sanchez, the organization’s interim political director, said.

“Our top priority as a PAC is to address the root causes of crime, to hold corrupt police officers accountable and to make Rhode Island better at addressing mental health crises,” Tuttle added.

When Tuttle joined the PAC, he

SEE BLM PAGE 3

METRO

Five Toni Morrison reads for Black History Month

‘The Seeing’ exhibition brings together music, social movements

From magical realism to sharp social critique, Morrison’s works offer sublime experience

Composer Roumain explores historical issues through film, music

BY MAGDALENA DEL VALLE SENIOR STAFF WRITER “The vitality of language lies in its ability to limn the actual, imagined and possible lives of its speakers, readers, writers ... It arcs toward the place where meaning may lie.” Giving her Nobel lecture at the Nobel Prize award ceremony in 1993, Toni Morrison (1931-2019) taught readers about the true power of language and imagination, the strength of their identities and the honor of the Black experience.

Morrison’s art of writing, speaking and understanding guided many. Her body of work lives on as a vessel of hope, anti-racism and universal human dignity. Below are five compelling works

by Morrison — must-reads for understanding the legacy of this legendary storyteller.

“The Bluest Eye” Published in 1970, Morrison’s first novel follows the harrowing childhood of Pecola Breedlove. Eleven-year-old

Pecola is an African American girl growing up in Lorain, Ohio (which is also Morrison’s hometown).

From the very first sentence, Morrison reveals to the reader the shocking plot of the novel: “Quiet as it’s kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that it was because Pecola was having her father’s baby that the marigolds did not grow.” It feels as if Morrison is daring readers to continue — not to find out what happened, but rather to see how such an atrocity will affect young Pecola and the community around her.

Morrison wrote this novel to comment on the misplaced correlation between beauty and “whiteness.” Despite her challenging circumstances — an incestuous pregnancy, family strife and poverty — Pecola is most concerned with the color of her eyes. She is unable to perceive herself as beautiful.

Instead, Pecola obsesses over blondehaired, blue-eyed Shirley Temple, who represents an inaccessible mainstream beauty standard.

While the story addresses heavy issues that are difficult to process at times, “The Bluest Eye” is a relevant and timeless admonition of prejudice and social idealism.

SEE MORRISON PAGE 8

FINN KIRKPATRICK SENIOR STAFF WRITER As part of a long-standing collaboration with renowned violinist and composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, Providence-based art initiative FirstWorks put on his newest multimedia project “The Seeing” at the WaterFire Arts Center. “The Seeing” is a monthlong video exhibition featuring six films all scored by Roumain running through Feb. 6.

The exhibit’s films all explore different facets of race in America.

The subjects of the films range from the Tulsa Race Massacre in “They Still Want to Kill Us” to the schoolto-prison pipeline in “About Face.”

In “Fear,” a spoken word element is used to address police violence, while “I Have Nothing to do Except Love” handles mental health with lyricism.

“Requiem, for the Living in Color,” the longest of the films at just over 30 minutes, addresses modern day race and historical civil rights issues.

COURTESY OF LAURA DUCLOS

The films blend archival footage, musical content from DBR and collaborators, as well as backgrounds relating to America’s racial history.

“Our Country,” a reinterpretation of the famous song “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” further highlights race-based violence.

The films are all projected backto-back on a loop in a single room in the WaterFire Arts Center gallery. The contents blend archival footage compilations — both contemporary and historical — with scenes of Roumain and various collaborators either playing or singing their music. The music is featured over several backgrounds, including a projection of police sirens, which draw upon all periods of American history. In some films, police brutality over the past decade are paired with images of the 1960s civil rights movement. The styles of music accompanying the films range from

Metro

Arts & Culture

U. News

Commentary

R.I. Candidates enter congressional race after Langevin drops out Page 2

‘The Lost Daughter’ disappoints with anticlimactic ending Page 6

Dining hall operations return to regular hours starting Friday Page 7

Gail McCarthy, beloved BDS cashier, says goodbye to the Brown community Page 7

traditional orchestral pieces to opera to distorted electronic sounds and vocal music that is similar to that of the songs of the Underground Railroad.

In his artist statement, Roumain wrote, “ ‘The Seeing’ is a collection of films that are all related to our willingness to hear, understand and love one another. Can we see each other? Of course, for so many, division and hatred is what is heard and understood, and hatred fills our screens and airwaves as it surrounds and drowns our communities into a chasm of despair.”

Prior to the opening of the exhibition, WaterFire Arts Center and FirstWorks held a town hall where Roumain spoke about his process creating the

SEE WATERFIRE PAGE 4

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

METRO

Candidates enter race for CD-2 as incumbent Langevin vacates seat Congressional hopefuls discuss election laws, education, campaign plans

BY BRENDAN GARDNER METRO EDITOR Following the announcement that longtime Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) will not be seeking re-election in the 2022 midterms, several candidates have entered the race for Rhode Island’s second congressional district, which encompasses western Rhode Island and parts of Providence.

Democrats Seth Magaziner ’06, Omar Bah and Ed Pacheco all declared their candidacies in the days following Langevin’s Jan. 19 announcement. Republican Robert Lancia is competing against State Senator Jessica de la Cruz in the Republican primary race.

In press releases and communications with The Herald, the three Democratic candidates framed the race as part of a crucial fight for democracy across the country in light of recent events such as former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and current efforts

by Republicans in states across the country to make voting requirements more restrictive.

“I believe the most sacred fight of our generation is in Washington,” Magaziner, the current general treasurer of Rhode Island, wrote in an email to The Herald. Magaziner suspended his bid for governor in order to declare his candidacy for the second district seat following Langevin’s announcement.

“It is so critical we keep this seat blue and Rhode Island does its part to stop national Republicans … from further efforts to undermine democracy and roll back progress,” he wrote.

Other candidates similarly empha-

size the importance of preserving democracy. “We live in a very dangerous time,” Bah said in an interview with The Herald. Bah is the founder of the Refugee Dream Center, a nonprofit organization that offers extensive aid and services to refugees in the Ocean State, according to the center’s website. Bah, who escaped oppression and torture as a journalist in The Gambia before arriving in Rhode Island, is also a member of the advisory board at the Watson Institute’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies.

“We cannot be oblivious of the fact that democracy is under threat,” Bah said. “I have seen the danger of dictatorships … and what (they) can do to the very existence of a nation and its people. And because I’ve done it before, I will fight to protect the democracy of this country.”

Pacheco, a former member of the state House of Representatives and former Rhode Island Democratic Party chairman, told The Herald that the first weeks of the race have been “kind of a blur.”

“The announcement by Congressman Langevin obviously took everybody by surprise, including myself,” he said.

Republican candidate Robert Lancia, a former member of the state House of Representatives, concurred, writing in an email to The Herald that “Jim Langevin’s retirement announcement came as a shock not only to myself, as his only competitor at the time, but also the entire state of Rhode Island.”

De la Cruz did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Herald.

All four candidates interviewed by The Herald listed education as one of their most important policy focuses.

“Education is a right for all Americans, and … all Americans deserve access to high-quality education regardless of their zip code,” said Pacheco. He emphasized the importance of ensuring

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS VIA KEVIN MCCOY

All Democratic and Republican candidates interviewed by the Herald emphasized education as a policy focus. Democratic and Republican candidates differed most significantly in their view of voting issues. universal access to pre-kindergarten education, expanding access to postsecondary and trade education and forgiving student loans as key policy measures that could help improve the state’s education system. “We have to have a serious conversation in this country about the crushing financial debt that’s being placed upon younger generations,” he said.

Magaziner also emphasized the need for universal pre-kindergarten and improved access to higher education. Bah referenced overcrowdedness and underfunding in Providence Public Schools while advocating for improvements to public K-12 education.

Lancia’s education policy goals echoed Republican party values surrounding educational curricula in recent months. “We must protect our children at all costs,” he wrote in an email to The Herald, noting that he be-

lieves in “the right for parents to have their children educated in relation with their religious and/or political views.”

“With an overwhelming number of property taxes going towards the public education system, (parents’) taxes come with opinions and their voices need to be heard,” he wrote.

In response to his Democratic opponents’ promises to act on the federal level to protect voting rights, Lancia wrote, “simply put, we should not be federalizing elections.”

“While Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Jim Langevin have supported this federal takeover of elections, even members of their own party have dismissed the efforts,” he wrote, referencing conservative Democratic senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).

Both Bah and Pacheco pointed to formative experiences from their per-

sonal lives and in Rhode Island that inspired their policy positions and decisions to run.

“I was raised by a single mother who taught me the importance of a good education and the value of hard work,” said Pacheco, who grew up in Burrillville. He referenced the support his family received from food stamps and federal housing assistance as reasons for his commitment to education and support for working families.

Bah, meanwhile, said that his own experiences as a refugee and his work helping other refugees at the Refugee Dream Center have led him to a greater understanding of the challenges facing working-class Americans.

These hardships “are lived experiences that I see every day,” he said.

“The reason I’m running is that I have lived it and experienced it.”

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METRO

Gov. McKee announces new environmental justice committee Committee aims to address climate change, pollutionrelated issues in state

BY KATE DARIO STAFF WRITER Governor Dan McKee announced the creation of a new environmental justice committee through the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council in a Jan. 19 news release. EC4 works to incorporate climate considerations into all state government operations and “develop practical solutions that allow Rhode Island to ‘weather the storm’” of climate change, according to its website.

The committee was announced as part of $150 million in funding to tackle climate change in McKee’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2023.

McKee believes “that all Rhode Islanders — regardless of income, race, ethnicity or national origin — have a right to live in a clean and healthy environment, and that no community should be burdened with adverse environmental and public health consequences,” Matt Sheaff, a spokesperson for McKee, wrote in an email to The

BLM FROM PAGE 1 “was very frustrated with how long it was taking for Rhode Island leadership to bring about the changes communities had been calling for” and believed that elected leaders needed to work in the interests of their constituents. “I realized that, to make this a reality, I needed to do something,” he said, adding that he feels that BLM RI PAC supports the campaigns of politicians “who truly serve” the communities they represent and “do not compromise to corporate interests.”

“We have a great group of people here who really care about others and who are committed to fighting for working people in Rhode Island,” Sanchez said. “Everyone here is trying to do the right thing, but it isn’t

Herald. The governor “look(s) forward to working with leaders of the Rhode Island General Assembly to enact the more than $150 million in specific remedies to combat climate change and address environmental injustices,” he added.

According to Chair of EC4 and Acting Director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Terry Gray, the committee members have not been selected yet.

But Gray emphasized the importance of incorporating community members affected by environmental injustice as part of the group. “Historically, a lot of (these) communities have been underrepresented in these discussions,” he said. “By creating an advisory board that really is looking at climate change through the lens of those communities, I think it is going to provide some very valuable feedback to us.”

Gray said that he expects the new committee will be formed in the next several months. “We’re probably going to look at a combination of very local advocates, neighborhood advocates, as well as statewide advocates, and just try and make sure we have a good mix of perspectives to help us come up with the right decisions,” he said.

Gray said he anticipates that the

new advisory board will evaluate the broader work of EC4 “and provide a different perspective and a valuable perspective on how that (work) impacts environmental justice communities.”

Despite McKee’s optimistic announcement, Director of the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee of Providence April Brown said she had concerns about the new advisory board’s prospects. “The governor’s new committee, we think, is a first step.

However, we’re not convinced that they’re … serious.”

“REJC has been in existence for five years. We’re hiding in plain sight,” she said. “And yet, none of us were consulted about how environmental justice could be implemented in the city.”

She described fighting for environmental justice as “daily work” that “can’t be done with a quick fix.”

According to Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology J. Timmons Roberts, the state government has historically not taken sufficient action on environmental justice. “Mostly it’s acknowledged as an issue, but not seriously addressed,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. He described the new EC4 committee as “a start.”

Gray, Roberts and Brown highlighted the Port of Providence as a major

just about the political work we do either. We all try to be there for each other and support one another in any way we can.”

For Jaliyah Joseph, executive assistant and creative director, one of the biggest challenges of working at the PAC has been the resistance posed by establishment politicians.

“The policies we advocate for are morally right, but some people can’t seem to grasp that,” she said. “Things like the repeal of LEOBOR, (the end of ) solitary confinement and (the implementation of) universal healthcare shouldn’t be up for debate.”

“Even though we live in a blue state, Rhode Island still has many pockets of white supremacy — particularly outside the city,” Sanchez added. “We still encounter a lot of bigotry and pushback from conser-

vatives here.”

Mobilizing young people in Rhode Island has been a crucial part of the PAC’s success, and the organization is working to make sure that it represents young people in the state, Sanchez said. “We support all young activists and future political leaders.

My advice for anyone looking to get into politics or activism is to start small: go to state hearings, attend protests and look into what your local committee is doing.”

According to Joseph, everyone is capable of bringing about change. “I was 14 when I joined (the PAC) and I had no idea what politics in Rhode Island (were) like — I didn’t even know what a PAC was. My time here has been incredibly eye-opening and I’ve learned a lot since I started out.”

JASMINE RUIZ / HERALD

The creation of the environmental justice committee is part of McKee’s $150 million plan to combat climate change. contributor to environmental injustice in the city. Roberts wrote that the Port affects minority communities in south Providence.

“Truthfully, the fact that the Port of Providence is still a working area is problematic. And until that is addressed, we are convinced that the city and the state are not really serious about climate justice in the city of Providence,” Brown said.

Gray said that transportation emissions are one of the most pressing environmental issues in the state. “A lot of our environmental justice communities are located adjacent to our busiest

and most congested highways,” he said.

Gray added that the new committee could potentially address this issue by developing plans to meet emission reduction targets in the transportation sector. Making these changes could then “translate into health improvements and air quality improvements for a lot of (the state’s environmental justice) communities,” he added.

Gray noted that a greater emphasis on equity needs to occur in environmental planning across the state. “We need to look at how equity and justice is reflected in our approach to climate change as we move forward,” he said.

COURTESY OF BLM RI PAC

BLM RI PAC has collaborated with progressive groups such as Sunrise, Reclaim RI and the Democratic Socialists of America.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

GSC approves spring semester budget Members vote to nearly double funds for food insecurity program for graduate students

BY GRACE HOLLEB SENIOR STAFF WRITER At the Graduate Student Council’s first meeting of the semester Wednesday evening, members approved a budget of $81,193 for the spring semester, voting to nearly double previous fund allocations toward the food insecurity program for graduate students in need.

According to GSC President Alex Jordon GS, the food insecurity program has drawn about 130 applicants, up from 75 at the start of the pandemic when the program was created. GSC allocated $5,500 for the program last semester and intends to allocate $10,000 this spring, which will be pulled directly from its $245,000 in savings. The Graduate School and the Office of the President match GSC’s contribution to the program, said Beenish Pervaiz, GSC vice president of advocacy.

Still, the executive board noted that it has been difficult to gauge the appropriate allocation of money for this program due to the unpredictable number of students needing assistance.

The program is a partnership between GSC and the Brown Market Shares Program, which distributes weekly shares of food from regional producers to the University community.

The new budget will allocate $6,000 to student life, $17,000 for conference

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

WATERFIRE FROM PAGE 1 exhibition and answered questions.

“What fuels me, what inspires me is this notion of what I call a shared radical morality,” Roumain said.

“That’s what I’m working towards.

Can we get to a place as a community, as a country, perhaps as a world, that we have a shared radical morality?”

Kathleen Pletcher, executive artistic director of FirstWorks spoke to the importance of the exhibition.

“There is so much that is coming

forward that can lead to significant change,” she said. Roumain’s films “bring us together to talk about our differences and find common ground.”

Pletcher said that art in the community can be “a vital core that we can gather around,” especially when the art relates to social issues.

Roumain and FirstWorks will continue their collaboration with the debut of “The Telling,” which features stories of “anger, anguish and enduring hope.” The exhibit will open Sept.

29 at the WaterFire Arts Center.

DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD

GSC members discussed whether they should draw additional funds from the social events budget toward the food insecurity program. funding and $5,000 for internal events, with $33,000 devoted to three large social events — the Welcome Back Social, Spring Formal and Commencement Toast. The board stated that the new budget increased funding for social events, which was due to an increase in the number of graduate students at Brown, as well as the fact that there were no University-sanctioned events last spring due to COVID-19. The budget will also set aside roughly $5,000 for new graduate student lounge speakers and $675 for locks to keep personal items safe in the lounge.

During the meeting, disagreement arose when one student advocated for allocating an additional $10,000 toward the food insecurity program by decreasing the budget for large social events.

Members of the executive board argued against this, insisting that funding social events to foster community is an important part of GSC’s mission. They added that in the past, their smaller budget has been adequate in covering all graduate students who requested food insecurity assistance. Finally,

they said that increasing funding to the program may discourage the University from continuing to match GSC’s contribution. In the future, GSC board members said they hope the Graduate School will use its resources to eliminate issues with food security among its students.

Additionally, the GSC executive board discussed hopes for a graduate community center. Jordon said that such a space would facilitate digital scholarship, professional development and interdisciplinary conversations. He added that Brown is the only Ivy League school without a dedicated center for grads.

The board also announced other priorities for the semester, which include COVID-19 safety and financial and mental health support.

“I’m excited to be in-person again,” Jordon said. “We have an opportunity because of vaccines and boosters and masking to rejoin as a community, and I’m really excited to bring that community together.”

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

ACTIVISM FROM PAGE 1 alogues within the University,” according to Martha Mitchell’s Encyclopedia Brunoniana. By 1993, there were more than 40 student organizations dedicated to minority students on campus.

Campus political organization during the civil rights movement In the 1960s, many Black students played a role in directly organizing civil rights protests on campus.

In one December 1968 protest, 65 of the 85 Black students enrolled at Brown marched to the Congdon Street Baptist Church and camped there for three days. The protest sought to convince the University to increase the number of Black students from the then population of 2.3% of students to 11% of each incoming class, which would match the Black population of the U.S. at the time. The protest also aimed to increase the resources and support the University provided to Black students.

A year later, in 1969, Black students walked out from classes in a protest aimed at increasing the number of

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Black faculty and administrators at Brown. According to the University’s “Brown’s History: A Timeline,” the University “agreed to take steps to increase African-American admissions, staff and financial aid” on campus.

Yet, more than half a century later, the University has yet to achieve the 11% margin. In 2018, students organized a walkout on the 50th anniversary of the first walkout protest as a call for the University to increase the Black student population on campus.

As of the 2020-21 academic year, Black students at the University made up roughly seven percent of total students, four percentage points lower than the threshold demanded in 1968.

As of 2020, faculty members from historically underrepresented groups combined made up just nine percent of the total faculty on campus.

Campus speakers inspire activism, Tougaloo College partnership begins Campus activists have worked to bring Black speakers and civil rights leaders to Brown throughout the campus’s history.

“Here at Brown … the students were

socially conscious,” said Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Sylvia Carey-Butler.

“They brought speakers to campus: They brought Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in the spring of 1969, … and all of that was related to helping Brown become more socially conscious about what was happening nationally,” Carey-Butler added.

When Malcolm X spoke at The University, during a time when the NAACP had pressured several universities across the country from keeping the controversial activist from speaking on campus, according to National Public Radio, he revealed many of his early views.

The Herald reported that on April 24, 1967 — during Spring Weekend — King spoke out against the Vietnam War in Alumnae Hall, describing it as a “bloody, tragic, costly, futile war that can destroy the soul of America.”

Carey-Butler added that Brown has had a “long, important and strong relationship” with Tougaloo College, a historically Black college, since 1964 — a partnership that was formed as a product of the civil rights movement.

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“Brown University at the time of the civil rights movement was opening up the friendship with Tougaloo College,” Nelson said. “It’s a friendship that … helped to keep Brown aware of what the struggles are for historically Black universities and colleges.”

The partnership formed during the height of the civil rights movement and “emphasized the need for financial assistance to historically Black colleges and universities, bringing federal attention to the issue,” according to the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership website.

Harold Pfautz, former Tougaloo professor of sociology and former director of the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership, went on to testify on behalf of Title III of the Higher Education Act in 1965, the passage of which increased funding to historically Black colleges and universities.

Activism and the University today Today, the Brown Center for Students of Color supports marginalized students along with the larger student population, according to Vincent Harris, associate dean and director of the BCSC. “Brown University is doing the work

that has been instilled from the … civil rights movement,” he said.

The University has “worked and fought behind the scenes to ensure that our students, especially our students of color, have a sense of belonging,” Harris added.

University Chaplain Reverend Janet Cooper Nelson said that the University today seems far off from what she imagined as a student during the civil rights movement.

“The Brown University you’re attending is wildly more diverse,” she said, citing the increased number of Black students, administrators and faculty.

OIED is also working on future initiatives to strengthen diversity and inclusion efforts at the University. They are “building up momentum for the long haul to engage students, to engage faculty (and) to educate the campus around diversity, equity and inclusion,” Carey-Butler said.

Her hope for the University is that it continues to work toward equality.

“We are imperfect, but in that imperfection we continue to move forward.”

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

ARTS & CULTURE

‘The Lost Daughter’ fails to deliver on promise made to viewers 2021 film obsessed with aesthetics, not so much with storytelling

BY RYA VALLABHANENI SENIOR STAFF WRITER “The Lost Daughter” is one of those films that prides itself on making viewers uncomfortable. In its sparse dialogue, long close-up camera shots and uneasy glances between characters, it has found a way to glue audience members to their seats. Anticipation buzzes around every scene, a hazy conviction that something is not quite right in the main character Leda’s life — a conviction which only gradually becomes clear. It is this uncertainty which makes the film so intriguing, along with the soft, creeping notion that something very bad is always about to happen. And so when nothing transpires, not only does the movie lose all intrigue, but it makes a viewer wish they hadn’t stayed sitting for so long.

“The Lost Daughter,” an adaption of Elena Ferrante’s novel directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, tells the story of Leda’s (Olivia Colman) vacation to Greece. After taking time off from her job as a college professor and traveling

to Europe alone, she befriends Nina (Dakota Johnson), a young mother and the black sheep of her own family. Nina is vain and slightly obnoxious, irritable, distracted and depressed.

In Nina, Leda finds a version of her younger self from when she first entered motherhood. She sees her past negligence in the way Nina looks after her three-year-old daughter Elena and becomes obsessed with watching the two interact. Memories of her own daughters come streaming back and are interspersed between scenes of the present: Leda yelling at them, Leda growing frustrated with them and Leda peeling oranges for them “like a snake.” It is within these scenes that viewers begin to truly dislike the young Leda (Jessie Buckley); she is made out to be a selfish, inattentive and overall terrible mother.

It is also within these scenes that the looming notion of secrecy in Leda’s life is given some ground. As her past is uncovered, viewers begin to understand why Leda acts the way she does. Why her theft of Elena’s doll, for example, is a warped but perfectly characteristic action. And why the meticulous attention she gives to it — bathing it, dressing it and all the while hiding it from Nina’s family — is nonetheless meaningful.

Leda eventually reveals to Nina that she abandoned her family for a

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The adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel follows middle-aged Leda’s vacation to Greece and her encounter with young mother, Nina. few years during her daughters’ childhoods. She admits, with bitter honesty, that the break felt “amazing.” While Leda confides in Nina under the guise of empathizing with her over the struggles of motherhood, the confession is really for herself more than anyone else. As the final scenes of the film close — depicting Leda, first by herself and then with her daughters, peeling an orange on the beach — it becomes apparent that she has finally come to terms with her biggest mistake in life. Or rather, that she at least has begun to do so.

The entire film is shot beautifully, with cinematographer Hélène Louvart using an at times unfocused, bluish filter which makes “The Lost Daughter”

SINCE 1891

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feel as if it were being watched through a window rather than a high definition screen. Olivia Colman’s performance is fantastic — incredibly difficult to pity, yet impossible to simply despise. Dakota Johnson delivered a similarly complex performance, and Jessie Buckley’s confidence on screen is not to be disregarded.

The soundtrack is modest, mostly lyric-less but tastefully chosen. It effortlessly fills the space between the cautiously placed dialogue, serving to bolster the actors’ work rather than take away from it.

Although intriguing, “The Lost Daughter” fails to deliver on the promise it makes with viewers near the very beginning of the film. The secrecy and

anticipation, as well as the knowledge that Nina’s family are “bad people,” lead one to believe that some terrible harm is inevitably going to come to Leda.

Most of the movie is spent waiting in suspense of this moment — the buildup to which is what’s primarily responsible for capturing viewers’ attention. And so it comes as a bit of a shock when no serious emotional consequence — even after Nina stabs Leda upon discovering that she had stolen the doll — materializes.

There is the film’s main problem: it lets this deal with its audience go unfulfilled. Although Leda running into trouble for stealing Elena’s doll is not the point of the movie, the lack of any real consequence leaves the “The Lost Daughter” feeling plotless. Its obsession with the tragic, albeit fine, nuances of mother-daughter relationships are likely much better suited for Ferrante’s novel, as they were initially (and meant to be) portrayed.

“The Lost Daughter,” if nothing else, is a prime example of what the cinematic world has increasingly become.

It focuses more on camera angles than dialogue, gains meaning through glances rather than contentious interaction.

Aestheticism in the film has clearly taken precedence over storytelling, and the result is most definitely lacking.

Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

Students reflect on restricted campus dining hall hours Normal hours of operation at Andrews Commons, Josiah’s to resume today

BY ANIYAH NELSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER After beginning the semester with two weeks of an altered dining hall schedule, Brown Dining Services announced that it would resume regular hours at its eateries in a campus-wide email sent to students Wednesday evening.

Dining Services had decided to temporarily change the operating hours of its dining halls due to concerns around the transmission of COVID-19 on campus and to reserve resources for students in isolation housing, according to Vice President of Dining Services George Barboza.

The final decision to implement these restrictions was made in early to mid-January, Barboza wrote in an email to The Herald.

“We began planning for a variety of potential scenarios at the end of the fall semester as we saw positivity rates begin to climb in Rhode Island and on other campuses,” he wrote.

Students learned of the changed hours in an email from Dining Services Jan. 21.

While adjustments to dining hall hours have been made throughout the pandemic, this semester’s change involved closing Andrews Commons, one of two major dining locations on North Campus, to the general student body. Andrews instead became the designated food pick-up location for students in isolation with COVID-19.

On Jan. 23, Josiah’s began operating from 11 a.m. - 7:30 p.m., a shift from its previous hours of 6 p.m. - 2 a.m.

The decision to turn Andrews into a grab-and-go food location for students in isolation, which went

MUKUL KHANNA / HERALD

While adjustments to dining hall hours have been made throughout the pandemic, this semester’s change involved closing Andrews, one of two major dining locations on North Campus, to the general student body. into effect Jan. 22, was a result of the dining hall’s unique layout. The space allowed staff to provide isolated students with food — as well as pharmacy and mail services — relatively easily, Barboza wrote. The expansion of Josiah’s operating times to include lunch, which began on Jan. 23, was intended to replace Andrews as an option for students during peak lunch and dinner hours.

In order to ensure the safety of the dining staff and limit the risk of student-to-worker transmission, workers did not come into direct contact with students in isolation. Rather, Barboza explained, “they are separated by a sliding screen and only enter the

student space to refill food in between meal periods when students are not present.”

While Dining Services reassigned some Andrews staff to Josiah’s to assist during busy dining times, overall staffing levels were otherwise unaffected by the scheduling changes and were not a factor in the decision to designate Andrews as a new resource distribution center for isolated students, Barboza continued.

Some members of the student body said these changes introduced new challenges to the on-campus dining experience.

Swaraj Agarwal ’25 explained that the changed dining hall hours and

closure of Andrews brought unique inconveniences for students living on North Campus. “It was quite annoying to see that on the weekends, it was just the Ratty that was open. I live in Andrews Hall, so I need to walk there to get my food on the weekends.”

In addition to distance, Agarwal identified health-related concerns with the change in operations.

“Sometimes it’s not safe because it’s so high density,” Agarwal said.

“Even in the seating areas, … people are actively eating and they have their masks down, so there’s a possibility of COVID transmission.”

Ethan Bove ’25 said that he had to eat in the dining halls earlier than

usual. He normally ate dinner between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the fall semester, but he was forced to rush down to the dining halls right before they closed at 7:30 p.m. He also questioned the logic behind making those in quarantine walk across campus for their meals.

Additionally, Bove identified socioeconomic barriers that the changes might have posed for low-income students. Without any late-night options, he has noticed that “people are eating on Thayer a lot more often, which is always an option, but it always feels a little exclusionary,” he said. “There are certainly always people who can’t spare $15 every night to get dinner.”

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Gail from the Ratty says goodbye To the Editor: I now sadly must say goodbye to all the students whom I call friends, to everyone in the Brown community whom I have had the pleasure to meet and especially to my coworkers from Dining Services. They worked tirelessly beside me. We were a team and, most of all, a family.

I will miss all of you very much.

I was not here a lot this past fall because of some neurological issues, but I am getting back on my feet! I have enjoyed my time at Brown; it has enriched my life. As Emily Faulhaber wrote in her beautiful article, I now

plan to volunteer at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals because I love animals! I also want to volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in memory of my sister, who died at 51 years old. She had schizophrenia and was my best friend; we did almost everything together. I hope to speak up for those with mental illnesses, who often lack voices and deserve to be heard.

As I leave Brown, I wish all of you happiness and good health.

Farewell!

Love, Gail McCarthy

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

MORRISON FROM PAGE 1 “Song of Solomon” Published in 1977, this novel accompanies its protagonist Macon “Milkman” Dead III on his journey to reconcile generational trauma. With little knowledge about his family history — especially about his enslaved grandparents ­— Milkman struggles to define who he is. This uncertainty results in a feeling of alienation from his community and perpetual dissatisfaction with the state of his life. Though he pushes away those closest to him, including his mother and sisters, it is clear that Milkman desires some form of kinship he never could embrace without knowing his family history.

With a myriad of multi-dimensional characters such as Milkman’s aunt Pilate and his friend Guitar, the novel explores many facets of the African American experience. It also incorporates multi-cultural elements from Native American heritage and African American folklore alongside Christian and Muslim motifs.

With every turn of the page, the reader is just as eager as Milkman to learn about the Dead family lineage, affirming the significance and strength of understanding one’s identity. Ultimately, this is what makes Milkman’s final discovery of himself and his past all the more poignant.

“Beloved” Published in 1987, this Pulitzer-Prize winning novel is a macabre depiction of the life of Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, and her family following the Civil War. Unlike “The Bluest Eye,” where the reader is immediately confronted with the plot, “Beloved” presents a far more intricate storyline.

Sethe and her daughter Denver welcome a stranger named Beloved into their house. As the narrative

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weaves back and forth in time and the perspective moves one character to another, the reader must piece the story fragments together. By the end of the novel, the true identity of Beloved remains ambiguous. Still, the elegant language and magical realism make for an engaging read.

But what truly sets “Beloved” apart is the experience — a collaboration between the reader’s and the writer’s imaginations.

“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” For those who do not have time to delve into Morrison’s more lengthy works, the Hulu documentary “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” is ideal for understanding and celebrating her career. Acclaimed writers, activists and celebrities — including Hilton Als, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez and Oprah Winfrey — comment on Morrison’s influence. The audience also hears from Morrison herself as she discusses the inspiration for her novels, such as her family and childhood. The documentary, like Morrison’s literal and figurative voice, feels both intimate and visionary. While meditative, the documentary provides a powerful exploration of American history through the eyes of one of the world’s most influential Black writers.

“The Measure of Our Lives: A Gathering of Wisdom” Morrison’s quotes and words of wisdom have guided many readers through difficult times. They have empowered. They have comforted.

They have transformed. This pocket-sized book allows readers to carry Morrison’s most famous maxims with them. Whether looking for a moment of quiet introspection or a revolution against conventional ideas, there is a Toni Morrison adage in “The Measure of our Lives” that is sure to inspire.

COURTESY OF JOHN MATTHEW SMITH

Morrison’s 1987 classic “Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize for its macabre depiction of the life of Sethe, who was formerly enslaved, and her family.